


A Life-Changing Date

by localspacelesbian



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: First Dates, Fluff, M/M, T. J. Kippen & Amber Are Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-09-08
Packaged: 2020-10-12 20:15:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20570234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/localspacelesbian/pseuds/localspacelesbian
Summary: TJ reluctantly agrees to let Amber set him up on a date with one of her friends. It goes much better than expected.





	A Life-Changing Date

**Author's Note:**

> based on [this](https://it-hurts-because-it-mattered.tumblr.com/post/185934903251/transpidermen-transpidermen-hi-this-is-so) tumblr post

TJ walked into The Spoon, the diner where his sister worked and where he was supposed to be meeting the date that she had set him up on. He wasn’t really sure why he had agreed to this. (_ “Marty’s moved on, so should you.” “To my ex-boyfriend’s girlfriend’s best friend?” “No, to your _ sister's_ girlfriend’s best friend.” _) The whole situation sounded way too complicated for him, but Amber gave him that puppy dog face that he had never been able to resist and offered to pay for their food, so he had reluctantly agreed. But whatever, one date couldn’t hurt, right? Amber was in front of him immediately when he entered the diner, pointing out a cute boy sitting a table that she reassured him wasn’t in her section. She pushed him slightly in the direction of the table.

He walked up to the table. “Hi.” He rubbed the back of his neck and waved awkwardly. “I’m TJ.”

“I’m Cyrus.” Cyrus looked up at him and smiled, gesturing for TJ to sit across from him, so he did. “So… you’re Amber’s brother?”

TJ nodded. “Unfortunately.”

Cyrus snorted. “Oh come on. She’s not that bad.”

“You haven’t lived with her.”

“Fair enough.” He shrugged, smiling slightly

A waitress came over, and they ordered their food.

“So, how’d Amber get you to agree to this?”

Cyrus smiled. “I’m only here for the free baby taters.”

“I’d be insulted, but honestly same.”

“No, but really, we had a sleepover last weekend, and they were all judging me for being single. And I was like, ‘well, how many other gay guys are there at Grant,’ and Amber was like, ‘well, there’s my brother,’ and then she was like, ‘you guys would actually make a good couple,’ and then she started talking about you, and she seemed like weirdly excited about the idea of us dating, which I think is probably more about her and Andi wanting someone to go on double dates with, since they refuse to go on double dates with Buffy and Marty anymore, which is like a whole other story you probably don’t want to hear about. So yeah, how could I say no to that?”

TJ couldn’t help but find Cyrus’s nervous rambling completely adorable. “So what did Amber say about me?” He couldn’t believe Amber would ever have anything nice to say about him.

“She basically said that you were my ‘type,’ which is ridiculous because I’ve only had like one crush before, so I’m not sure how I could really even have a type or how she would know what it is.”

TJ raised an eyebrow. “So what is your type then? According to Amber anyway.” he couldn't help but be curious what exactly it was about him that Amber seemed to think Cyrus would like.

Cyrus blushed slightly and looked relieved when the waitress came by again, putting a chocolate milkshake on the table in front of Cyrus and effectively cutting off the conversation. Cyrus thanked her, and she left.

“Do you want some?” Cyrus pushed the milkshake slightly toward TJ. He felt his face heat up. Sharing a milkshake did sound really sweet and romantic. And he loved milkshakes. But for some reason, they always made his stomach hurt. It didn’t really seem like a good idea, but he didn’t want to say no. Oh no, he was taking too long to answer, wasn’t he? “I mean, it’s ok if you don’t, I just-”

TJ shook his head. “No, it’s just. I want to, but I can’t. Milkshakes always make me sick.”

Cyrus nodded. “Oh. Are you lactose intolerant?”

_ Am I what now? _ “What?”

“You know, lactose intolerant, like you can’t eat dairy.” _ Huh. That makes sense. _ “Here. Try this.” Cyrus slid a small packet across the table. TJ looked at the label: _ Lactaid _. He watched as Cyrus opened up an identical packet, taking out a small white tablet and eating it before taking a sip of the milkshake. TJ hesitantly copied him, opening the packet and chewing on the tablet. It was chalky and tasted vaguely of vanilla. He grabbed a second straw, put it in the milkshake, and took a sip. He had to admit, he had missed the taste of milkshakes. He really hoped that Cyrus was right and that he wouldn’t end up regretting this.

The rest of the date went really well. The rest of their food came a few minutes later, and there was never a lull in the conversation. They discovered that they had almost nothing in common, but somehow they just clicked immediately. TJ had never felt so comfortable with someone so quickly before. And he could listen to Cyrus talk about pretty much anything for hours. So, he did.

Somehow, the topic turned to the planetary status of Pluto, which was apparently something Cyrus was very passionate about. TJ had always thought that Pluto was a planet but didn’t feel particularly strongly about it and found that he would happily change his mind for the boy sitting across from him.

“You can’t just deny science for the sake of your nostalgia. Imagine if people applied that same logic to other things. That’s how you get flat-earthers and anti-vaxxers! You can’t just accept what you learn as a kid as fact and reject anything you learn later that contradicts that. Science changes constantly as new discoveries are made. Pluto was reclassified when we learned more about it and about the other objects in the outer solar system because that’s how science works. When Pluto was first discovered, they called it a planet because they didn’t know what else to call it, but now we know that there are literally hundreds of other similar objects out there, so if you wanna call Pluto a planet, there are hundreds of other objects that we’d also have to call planets, and no one wants that. They should have their own category because they are different from planets. And I know the name ‘dwarf planet’ is dumb and confusing because it feels like it should be a subcategory of a planet but it’s not; it’s a separate thing. Like how a seahorse isn’t actually a horse. Or how strawberries aren’t actually berries, but that’s a whole other rant.” TJ snorted slightly at that, but Cyrus didn’t seem to notice as he kept going. He could tell Cyrus didn’t get a lot of opportunities to go on rants like this because once he realized TJ had no plans on stopping him, he just let it all out. “And honestly it’s insulting to the other dwarf planets to call Pluto’s reclassification a ‘demotion’ and to campaign for Pluto to be called a planet when most people don’t even know the names of the other dwarf planets. And-” Cyrus suddenly cut himself off, looking around as though he had just realized in that moment how long he had been talking and that their food was long gone. Cyrus looked down at his watch and his face went slightly pink. “Oh my god, I can’t believe you let me ramble on about nonsense for almost half an hour.”

“It’s not nonsense if it’s important to you.” To be honest, TJ had had no idea how long it had been. “Besides, I think it’s cute.” Cyrus blushed even more. “And honestly, if you actually managed to convince me that Pluto isn’t a planet, I’d say that’s pretty impressive and definitely a worthy use of our time.”

Cyrus smiled. “I actually convinced you? You’re not just saying that?”

“Of course. You made a very convincing argument.” Honestly, TJ hadn’t really needed the whole argument; he was ready to believe just about anything that came out of Cyrus’s mouth.

“Well, good. Maybe now you can help me convince my friends. Although at this point, I’m pretty sure they’re just disagreeing with me to try to annoy me. You know Marty also pretends to be a flat-earther?” TJ nodded. He did know that actually, but he really didn’t want to talk about Marty right now. Cyrus shook his head and looked like he was about to go on another rant, most likely about how the Earth is round.

TJ interrupted Cyrus before he could get going again. “Cyrus, I know.”

Cyrus smiled at him and blushed again, which TJ thought was adorable. “Right. Sorry. I should probably get going anyway. As much as I really don’t want to leave, it is getting late.” Almost to prove his point, he yawned.

TJ was surprised that he was actually disappointed about the date ending. He offered to walk Cyrus home to delay having to say goodbye, and Cyrus happily agreed. On the way home, TJ told Cyrus stories about the kids at his gym because those were always entertaining, and he loved talking about his kids. He decided then that Cyrus’s laugh was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.

When they made it to Cyrus’s house, they stopped at the sidewalk leading up to the door. Cyrus turned toward TJ. “I had a lot of fun today.”

TJ smiled at him. “Me too.”

The two of them stood there staring at each other for probably a moment too long before Cyrus stood up on his toes to kiss TJ on the cheek. “I’ll talk to you later?”

TJ could only nod in response.

Cyrus nodded back and turned toward his house, stopping just before he opened the door to look back and wave at TJ. TJ absentmindedly waved back, still frozen in place. The sound of the door closing finally snapped TJ out of it, and he turned to walk away to his own house. His smile never left his face the whole way home.

It wasn’t until he was laying on his bed later that he realized that he had successfully finished a milkshake without feeling like shit afterward for the first time in years. _ Huh. Cyrus was right. _ He decided to text Cyrus to tell him and to ask him where he could get more of those Lactaid things. And if it was mostly just because he wanted an excuse to talk to Cyrus again, well, nobody needed to know that.


End file.
